Blind Wolf (A Werewolf BBW Shifter Romance #1)(25)

"So you feel my confusion now, like you're confused? You get angry when I'm angry? Is that how it works?" she asked. So many questions floating around in her mind.

"No, it's more like...imagine hearing your favorite song. Imagine it now."

Julia closed her eyes and imagined. The lilting strains of the ballad her mother used to sing to her while playing the piano. Her mother's soft voice. Then Damien spoke, breaking through the song.

"You see? You're not actually hearing it, but you are. In a way. Your mind is playing it so that you can almost hear the notes."

"That's how you feel my emotions?"

"Right. I don't actually feel them, but I sense them. They're not perfectly clear, and I don't know why you're feeling what you're feeling. It's more of a shadow of what they really are. Like you imagining the shadow of a song."

Julia looked into the soft yellow glow of Damien's sightless eyes. For the first time, she felt as though someone was actually looking at her. Not her outer body, not her face. Looking into her true self. A sense of peace washed over her body.

"Forgive me for coming back here," Damien said. "I just couldn't leave you without saying goodbye."

"Don't," Julia said.

"Don't what?"

"Don't say goodbye."

She stepped forward and he met her lips with his in a fervent kiss. A sharp shock echoed through her body. The shock of raw desire, of brutal lust. Blinding white shocks of light exploded behind her eyelids, and even when she opened her eyes she saw nothing but bursts of light. The air around her grew warm and pressing, and she put her hands against Damien's chest, not knowing whether she was pulling him in or pushing him away. Desire. Desire. I want you. Julia—

She tore away from the hot kiss, gasping for breath. The sky spun above her and she held on to Damien's arms to steady herself.

"Julia," Damien said. "Are you alright?"

"What? Yes. Yes, of course." Her breath came fast, all of the air in the field not enough to fill her lungs. "I just...this is all happening so fast. I don't understand it."

He pressed her hands between his. His forehead rested against hers, his breath hot on her lips, smelling like pine and wilderness. They stood there together, feeling the rush of desire swim through their minds and bodies, one to the other. Around them fireflies danced and shone, their lights calling out for their own mates.

"It's late," Damien said finally. "You should sleep."

"I don't want you to leave," Julia blurted out. She was thankful that Damien could not see the hot flush on her cheeks.

"I'll be back tomorrow," he said. "Like you said, we're moving quickly. I don't want you to regret any decision you make tonight."

"But—"

"Sleep on it," Damien said. His lips curved into a soft smile. "Don’t tell anyone about all this.”

“Of course not.”

“And I promise I'll be back."

Julia sighed.

"I have to work tomorrow," she said.

"Call in sick."

"I can't—"

"Tomorrow morning, then. I'll come at nine. You'll only be a little late. Trust me."

Julia opened her mouth to say that she couldn't, that she really needed the hours, that she couldn't afford to be late, but the words evaporated from her lips before she could speak them. She had no idea why, but she trusted Damien.

"Okay," she said.

"I'll be back tomorrow morning," Damien said. He leaned forward and kissed her again, a gentle kiss that brushed her lips so softly she wondered if he might not be a spirit instead of a werewolf. "Goodnight, Julia."

"Goodnight."

Julia returned to the house, tiptoeing back up the stairs. The desire in her body sent her muscles weak with shivering every time she thought of the kiss they had shared. She climbed into bed and looked out of the window. The fireflies had all but gone, fading quickly as the coolness of night set in. Only a few flickers of light remained. The thick white roundness of the full moon rose slowly behind the dark pines, its halo casting a ghostly ring around it in the clouds. She closed her eyes and slept, and in the darkness the howl of wolves reverberated through her dreams.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Damien

Jordan was still stitching up the other shifter’s wounds when Damien returned.

“He’s doing much better,” Jordan said, as soon as Damien entered the room.

“Still unconscious?”

“He’d better be,” Jordan said. “I gave him enough morph**e to last until tomorrow morning.”

“I just got back from the bank,” Damien said. “Wrote them a check for that property.”

“What about the girl? She knows about us. It’s not safe.”

“She won’t tell.”

“How do you know?”

“I know.”

There was a pause, and Damien could hear the wolf’s struggled breathing as he lay on the makeshift operating table.

“You’re still taken with her,” Jordan said. “The Calling isn’t something that you feel with a human.”

“I know.”